Following up our amazing finishes from last year, we began the 2009 racing season ranked 9th worldwide by an independent site, http://www.fs-world.org/, sort of like a BCS style ranking system for the hundreds of formula sae/student teams all over the world.
The first drive of our 2009 car was very early, running on its own power early in February, which allowed us to have close to 20 hours of actual running time before we ever got to our first competition.
Our first event was April 22-25 at Virginia International Raceway in Alton, VA. http://www.sae.org/servlets/cdsNews?OBJECT_TYPE=PressReleases&PAGE=showCDSNews&EVENT=FORMULA&RELEASE_ID=1008. Out of 21 cars that showed up to the event, all 21 cars passed tech, 17 cars started endurance, and only 9 cars finished. Only two cars were selected for design finals, of which S&T was one. Missouri S&T's results:
Honda Engineering Design Award: 2nd place in Design
Hoosier Tire Autocross Award: 1st place, fastest recorded time in Autocross
Goodyear Best Performance Award: 1st place, best combined score in Endurance and Economy
Honda Dynamic Event Award: 1st place, best combined score in all dynamic events
Spirit of Excellence Award: 1st place overall.
This was the first competition in the 20 year history of the FSAE program at Missouri S&T that we were able to place 1st overall, backing up our 2nd place overall finish there in 2008
Our 2nd event was May 13-16 at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, MI. http://www.sae.org/servlets/cdsNews?OBJECT_TYPE=PressReleases&PAGE=showCDSNews&EVENT=FORMULA&RELEASE_ID=1032. Out of over 95 teams that showed up, 92 passed tech, 76 cars started endurance, and only 37 cars finished. 13 cars were selected for design semi-finals, with S&T being selected for the 2nd time this year. Missouri S&T's Results:
Honda Engineering Design Award: 3rd place, tied for 3rd in design
Altair Engineering's William R Adam Engineering Award: 1st place, development of new and innovative design concepts
Formula SAE Recognition of Accomplishment: 6th place overall.
Again, we bettered our finish from last year in this event, from 8th place overall in 2008 to 6th place overall in 2009. However, there was some mis-communications in the staging line for endurance, while many teams were switching tires, Missouri S&T got mixed up in the run order and we were given a two-minute penalty for running out of order. This took us from 2nd place in endurance to 7th place, and took our overall placing from 4th to 6th. However, we were still happy to have another top 10 given the amount of competiton there.
Our 3rd and final event of the 2009 season was June 17-20 at the Auto Club Speedway, in Fontana, CA. http://www.sae.org/servlets/pressRoom?OBJECT_TYPE=PressReleases&PAGE=showCDSNews&EVENT=FORMULA&RELEASE_ID=1050. Out of 48 teams that showed up, 36 cars passed tech, 35 cars started endurance, and 21 cars finished. There were 7 design semi-finalists, with S&T being selected again, making 3 design events in a row where we made semi's. Missouri S&T's results:
SAE Skidpad Award: 1st place, best time in the Skidpad event
Hoosier Tire Autocross Award: 3rd place, 3rd best time in autocross
S&T was on track to score another top-ten finish in this competition, but unfortunately, a broken weld on the steering column kept us from finishing the endurance event. Ironically, the amount of testing time we had on this car, which made it so fast also lead to it's demise. There were several fatigue failures just prior to and during this competition, but luckily, it didn't cause any major damage. We were still able to place 14th overall, beating several cars who did finish the endurance event, so it was still a respectable finish.
Overall, it was a very successful year, with many advancements made in the areas of engine development, suspension tuning, and weight reduction, weighing in at under 440 pounds at all three competitions. We hope to improve on these results with a win in Michigan next year. I hope to see all of you at autocrosses over the summer and fall, while we train drivers for next year.
http://fsae.mst.edu/